I Tried An Illegal E-Bike And It Blew My Mind

The distinction between a legal pedal-assist e-bike and a powerful electric motorbike is clear to us, but it seems politicians, the media, and even the police are struggling to tell the difference. Have you ever felt unfairly targeted while riding a legal e-bike, or do you think stricter regulations are necessary to stop the rise of illegal motos? Let's discuss in the comments! 👇

I used a legal e bike to commute 12 miles into work most days. I think I'm the only legal ebike going into Derby most days. Illegal ebikes and scooters are everywhere! They are dangerous and annoying! I see e Moto cross bikes daily that must be going at 50 mph along shared paths. It's ridiculous!

It would go a long way to solving it if they put some of the responsibility on the manufacturers or sellers.

If you invest in the legality enforcement it will be self funding.
And make it safe.

Where I live you can peddle assist up to 45 kph … there is no throttle permitted at all..

Labour created the issue of over-regulation thne turning the Birmingham police into dogsbodies. Your MP didn't do squat to prevent this, but I bet was pleased to tell you how fast she could make them jump.

The image accompanying the line “cheap batteries and conversion kits” is a perfectly legal, £500 Mahle Range Extender – more than some of the illegal e-bikes!

Connor is so big, that thing looks like a kids toy.

At least here in the US, I think the laws around these e-cycles are confusing; we have three classes of e-cycles, each class has different rules, and one of them can go faster speed than the others–how does that make one bit of sense? Also, I believe the US laws use the word "bicycles" which implies laws are different for all other cycles, like what the heck? The laws are hard to understand for someone (like me) who knows the laws exist and knows at least basic info about e-bikes, imagine the average joe that knows nothing or very little? This isn't even mentioning how individual cities and municipalities often have their own nuance on the e-bike laws. So here's my hot take (this is OPINION*)… My proposal is this: – *A simple rule of having a e-motor that does not allow the rider to go faster than 18 MPH (~30 KM/hr) on motor power.
This could include a limit on how powerful the motor is, I think it's usually considered to be ~750 watts. If the device exceeds this threshold, then it's a e-moto or e-moped, not an e-cycle, and therefore, it must be registered as with other similar vehicles and you must have licensing where applicable. This could also include an empty weight limit of, maybe, 200 lbs (90kg) which I'll discuss further below.

Doesn't matter how many wheels it has, if it's more in the form factor of a go-kart or a form factor of a wheel chair or even a bicycle or tricycle or one wheel or literally any type of mobility device you can think of. Doesn't matter if it has pegs or pedals, if it has a deck, if it's pedal assist or throttle, if it looks like a motorcycle… If it cannot exceed that 18 MPH or 30 KM/hr speed, it should be considered at the same level as a bicycle which, in my opinion, should be allowed to be ridden on most if not all sidewalks and walkways.

Perhaps there should be a weight limit of the device's empty weight… Maybe an empty weight of not more than 200 lbs (~90kg)… so that you can rule out most serious ATVs, UTVs, and other larger vehicles from going where they shouldn't. Most e bikes are not gonna exceed 100 lbs, but if you need more batteries for more range or maybe additional features like lights, signals, horn, etc., it could get close to 200 lbs, so hence that's my logic for choosing that number. Most adult-sized gas-powered quads, for instance, are gonna be well over 300 lbs.

At the end of the day, you also have mobility devices that actually are used by disabled people that should be allowed in places with other pedestrians. Even just today when I was at a market, I saw this old guy riding an e-tricycle with a deck and no pedals, who… while I didn't ask, I am betting he probably needs the wheels to get around safely. You even have the toys (often called powerwheels) that are so under-powered that if you arrest or ticket the young one (or adult) riding it just because it "looks" like an e moto or overpowered go kart, you'd probably get a lotttt of bad press. But I think with current rules… technically, even these may be illegal to ride in certain right of way at times which doesn't always make sense.

Furthermore, most normal non-e-powered cycles are not gonna be regularly exceeding 18 or 20 MPH unless they are going downhill, at which point, gravity is gonna be the main driver. Hence the limit of how fast the motor can push which I share here. And to reemphasize.. because there is the possibility of hitting a steep down hill that speeds the rider up, the speed should be limited to the output of the motor not the top speed of the device.

Lastly, if you are on private land and have permission of the owner or manager to ride there, you should be able to ride as high- or low-powered of a device as you want, just as long as you aren't taking it onto public right of way.

If there's something else I'm not considering, someone please let me know… I personally have cycled normal pedal cycles but not e-cycles; I've intermingled with e-cycles, however, and do try to keep up to date on the latest regarding e-cycles and e-powered devices just because, yeah, they look fun and probably are fun. They can also be great mobility and transport devices that enhance the real-world traveling experience and reduce the amount of pollution into our world.

Oh and one more thing in case it wasn't clear. FORGET whether the device has pedals. That's irrelevant as it's regularly used as a work around.

We also need to address the Police System of chasing quotas because as all of us know policemen can also LIE anytime on their reports.

I have three different ones and I love them. So much fun.

No motors should have been put on bicycles in the first place. This by definition transforms said bicycle to a moped. The blokes who "need" assistance should/could just get a moped.. Please let bicycles be & stay as bicycles.

Bikes are almost intrinsically safe ( even motorbikes ); cars are the opposite, high kinetic energy, almost non-existent driver accountability, and ability.

They are so fun though there's so much more fun than bikes

Something that hasn't really been talked about is the reason people are riding basically motorbikes illegally. Insurance, tax, registration and the biggest one – getting a license to ride motorbikes – is so extortionately expensive, basically a scam. If riding a motorcycle legally wasn't so expensive none of this would be a problem, it costs £1300 and 7 days full time to get a motorcycle license after you pass the theory and that's only if you pass first time, if you don't it's more time and more money. no wonder people do it illegally instead.

color me shocked that the UK police stole the bike and crushed it without them telling you anything

I would first like to say is that I own a dual 750W hub e-bike with a 20Ah Samsung Battery, the hub motors come from Bafang, and is locked from the factory at 25Km/h (Australia), yes I have had it unlocked and it can do 50Km/h… unlocked.
since I came off the bike, and damaged the crankcase, itself, after hitting a wet patch of road, after coming through an S Bend at train station, skidding for 25 metres while it was on dual hub mode …. it has been locked to factory settings …. and will be like this when get it repaired, for when I go back on the road.
I have installed though a Yamaha motorcycle rear light system, (12V ) as I would be installing turn signals on it, and motorcycle driving lights with Halo fog lamps, all this running off a 12V system, but the tail lights and brake lights, am going to be asking the mechanic when I take the bike in to see if they can wire the rear lights into the controller, for the front light, as it has a light sensor, that automatically turns the lights on when senses dusk or low light conditions.

I also agree with your outcome that e-bikes if remained locked in at factory specs, are great assistance, for people with mobility issues, like myself, I will inturn when the bike is repaired, is using at factory specs, as I have seen a lot of e-bikes here in Australia, that are road legal and have turn signals front and rear, which is why I am installing the extra lighting on the back of the bike, and as it's a pedal assist e-bike, I am installing the redshift ark pedals on it, where when you move the bike and pedal the bike, the pedals themselves, make you more visible on the road, upto 57% and are a product I would highly recomend for all pedal cyclists, and I will be installing them on all my pedal assist bikes. I do however have a throttle installed on my dual hub motor e-bike, and is something that is rarely used, I ownly use it when going up hills and starting off at lights, then I switch back to pedalling, mainly in PAS 4 but after watching a youtuber few weeks back, he mainly uses PAS 1 and using the full cassette at the back, allowing him to maintain longer battery life.

I will be purchasing a 2nd road legal e-bike, with built in turn signals, and is UL Certified and also has built in GPS Tracking as well…this bike I would be purchasing has dual batteries, and is dual motored at 1000W Bafang motors, and is quite legal on the road here in Australia…and is what I am in a sense doing to my other e-bike the red one, installing the turn signals on it.
Over here in Australia, thay are seriously thinking about banning all illegally modified e-bikes from Metro trains and all of the Sydney train network, only the e-bikes that are UL Certified, are and would be allowed, and this is due to safety issues, with regards to fires breaking out on public transport…

I agree totally with Duncan though, if the e-bike is legal on the road, and is able to assist the person riding, who has mobility issues, like me, then I am totally all for it, I have seen many ocasions where people are riding modified illegal e-bikes, and chucking wheelies on them in the street, then am all for the police cracking down on them, but for the people who like to get out and ride their e-bike, then getting pulled over, cause they think it's ilegally modified, then that's wrong, and there should be more education on members of the police force, and parliament in respect to legal PAS e-bikes.

bro just bought an electric motorcross and called it an E-bike trying to relate it to a electric bicycle

As previously discussed on GCN, it has been noted that there is confusion between the term e-bike and e-motorbike, so why in the title is it written as e-bike and not e-motorbike?

Imagine what these will be like in a few years